Whether or not you believe that Manchester United need to make a signing to replace Paul Scholes, I think that Sir Alex will take action this January. Prematurely kicked out of the Carling Cup and the Champions League, Fergie may well view the January transfer window as an opportunity to restate his intent as he narrows his focus upon the Premier League and the FA Cup.
Given that United have plenty of options upfront the focus will surely be on the midfield and the defence (since they are sure to miss Vidic).
CaughtOffside has listed Barcelona star Javier Mascherano as a potential candidate for filling their midfield void. Whilst I don’t give much credence to the rumour, I do think that Mascherano is an interesting option and one well worth considering for Ferguson.
After all, he was left out of Barca’s encounter with Real Madrid on Sunday night and may well be wondering if he’s going to get a chance during the big games. At the moment he just doesn’t seem capable of supplanting Sergio Busquets. Barcelona’s midfield is so jam-packed full of talent that even someone who is widely considered to be one of the world’s best in the defensive midfield position isn’t getting a look in.
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That wouldn’t be the case at Old Trafford where if he played well week-in and week-out, he’d be a nailed on starter.
At 27-years-old he’s only just approaching the peak of his game and what’s more he has Premier League experience thanks to his time at West Ham and Liverpool.
United have been linked to the likes of Luka Modric and Wesley Sneijder, but I can’t help but feel that these players share too many similarities to players already at the club. The likes of Anderson, Fletcher, Carrick and Cleverley all have some attacking prowess, but are lacking defensively.
Bringing Mascherano into the side would give the likes of Cleverley and Carrick to play further forward and fulfil more of their attacking potential. What’s more it would allow Phil Jones to slot back into the defence and make up for Vidic’s absence.
So what would it take to bring Mascherano to Old Trafford? It’s obvious that he wouldn’t come cheap, but there’s every chance that Barca could be persuaded to sell for around £20-25m. Would this be money well spent and does Mascherano have the drive to put United back in the running?
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The usual rubbish article trying to engage fans on an already dead subject….. Please get a proper job.
his wife wanted to move from liverpool…thats why he pushed for his transfer…so why would they wana move to manchester???
This artical is a joke! Are you kidding me, a creative player (through and through) is what Man U needs right now. They need a Sneijder or Modric who are consistently creative and not someone like Fletcher and Anderson who can be creative at times. Carrik is not a creator, he is more a busquets/mascherano type of player.